Chipping away at the burnout. One break at a time.
Glow Up Level 1 Progress Report
In my last post I had some small goals for myself, mainly hoping to regain some level of stability after being so burnt out for so long.
Glow Up Level 1 Goals:
Start therapy program.
Eat 3 times a day when I can.
Get back onto a proper sleep schedule.
Remembering to grab water, not coffee, every time I’m thirsty.
Make time for movement beyond going to the kitchen.
Start chipping away at the work stress.
Though it has been a couple weeks now I feel like I’ve started to chip away at some progress. Focusing mainly on working on the work stress.
I clock out and close my browser for the day. The workday mask finally coming off. All I can feel in that moment is just how heavy my body feels. As if my whole body has become a waterlogged bathing suit and I’ve been in the pool all day. Unsure if I have the energy to lift my arm to close my laptop, much less to get out of the chair and go make myself dinner. Most nights I don’t. Most nights I’ll just take the 10 steps between my desk and my bed to get back under the covers. Sleep on it’s own becoming a battle against my mind from overthinking my day, and instead just stare at my phone. My cat Freya staring at me as it is normally time to snuggle but I almost don’t even have the energy for that.
I’ve begun my therapy program with Meru Health. (Not sponsored or anything, but trying it out anyway) It’s a 12 week program that is intended to be a more holistic approach to therapy - while I am also in contact with a therapist the whole time. I’m in my first week and it’s okay as it’s a week about creating moments of mindfulness, but its definitely helping me be more present when I’m not working and trying to keep my mind off of work when I’m not on.
So far, it’s been helping a bit with the work stress. The current challenge I've got for myself through the therapy program is to actually take my breaks during my workday. With my current schedule, I am allotted a 1 hour lunch and a 15 minute break for my shifts, however, I rarely ever took my 15 minute break. Doing this lead to me feeling completely drained after work.
In hopes that this feeling would be mitigated slightly, I’ve scheduled in my calendar to take my lunch and break so I can work three hours, take a lunch break, work another 3, take a short break, work the rest of my shift. Normally that second break involves a cup of tea. (This week’s tea is Celestial Seasoning’s Tension Tamer tea)
How this change has impacted the work stress:
Making sure that when I take those breaks I actually get up and step outside of my workspace, has begun making a small impact. I use that time to make sure I’m not staring at a screen, and I can’t hear any alerts coming from my Slack. In those small moments I try to focus on what is physically in front of me. My cup of tea, Freya looking up at me for nose scritches. It hasn’t completely taken away my stress of the day, but the marking that I’m closer to the day’s end with those breaks makes getting through it easier right now.
If I would give it an actual number, I would say it’s made my burnout about 2% better. Just chipping away at it, one break at a time.
Though I’ve still been having hard days. Days where my overwhelm is too much, and I feel like I’m shutting down. I’ll take the win where I can get it right now.